Topic by Carpet4

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Topic: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Hi folks!
I've been playing both classical and modern music on a cheap casio privia px150 for over 10 years now. I rather enjoy the feel of the keyboard and a few years ago solved the low quality sound by connecting to Pianoteq. A month ago one of the keys went off and is now playing much quieter than the actual velocity I press on it. Assuming (although I might be wrong?) that fixing it might cost more than the piano itself, I decided it is time to buy a new one. A friend of mine owns a roland fp30x of which I like the feel of, and since I use Pianoteq I don't mind much about the sound quality. However one thing I noticed is high latency from the moment I press the keyboard until it is detected by my laptop/Pianoteq (a few dozen ms more than with my cheap casio probably).

It really annoys me so I was wondering, did anyone else notice latency diffences between different digital pianos when using Pianoteq? And if so, which digital pianos do you advice to use with Pianoteq? I can go much higher than a roland fp30x in terms of budget, I just liked its feel more than much more expensive pianos I've tried.

Thanks in advance!

Last edited by Carpet4 (11-11-2024 07:46)

Reply by Coises

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Is this Windows? Is it possible that your computer has drivers that were installed for the px150 that could still be present and interfering with the FP-30X?

That’s just a wild guess. There shouldn’t be perceptible latency from any MIDI input unless something is wrong. Though I haven’t used that device, I’m certain that’s not expected operation for the Roland FP-30X.

I presume you are using the same audio interface and audio output you used with the Casio? If for some reason you’re trying to use the audio-over-USB capability of the FP-30X to play over its speakers, that, and not the MIDI input, is almost certainly the source of the latency. In any case, if this is Windows, make sure your audio output from Pianoteq didn’t change from ASIO to something else.

Reply by Carpet4

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Coises wrote:

Is this Windows? Is it possible that your computer has drivers that were installed for the px150 that could still be present and interfering with the FP-30X?

That’s just a wild guess. There shouldn’t be perceptible latency from any MIDI input unless something is wrong. Though I haven’t used that device, I’m certain that’s not expected operation for the Roland FP-30X.

I presume you are using the same audio interface and audio output you used with the Casio? If for some reason you’re trying to use the audio-over-USB capability of the FP-30X to play over its speakers, that, and not the MIDI input, is almost certainly the source of the latency. In any case, if this is Windows, make sure your audio output from Pianoteq didn’t change from ASIO to something else.

I am using an Ubuntu machine with no drivers installed. Same exact settings for both pianos including the same cable. (Piano connected to my laptop, input detected by Pianoteq and output to my headphones)

Last edited by Carpet4 (11-11-2024 09:09)

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Carpet4 wrote:
Coises wrote:

Is this Windows? Is it possible that your computer has drivers that were installed for the px150 that could still be present and interfering with the FP-30X?

That’s just a wild guess. There shouldn’t be perceptible latency from any MIDI input unless something is wrong. Though I haven’t used that device, I’m certain that’s not expected operation for the Roland FP-30X.

I presume you are using the same audio interface and audio output you used with the Casio? If for some reason you’re trying to use the audio-over-USB capability of the FP-30X to play over its speakers, that, and not the MIDI input, is almost certainly the source of the latency. In any case, if this is Windows, make sure your audio output from Pianoteq didn’t change from ASIO to something else.

I am using an Ubuntu machine with no drivers installed. Same exact settings for both pianos including the same cable. (Piano connected to my laptop, input detected by Pianoteq and output to my headphones)

What are the audio settings you have setin your operating system, Operating system and DAW?
What is the latency?
What size of buffer?
What sample rate?

Other considerations:
How close to your ears are the loudspeaker monitors?
How do you feel about the latency if you use headphones?

Reply by bazzo

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Hi Carpet,

Carpet4 wrote:

I am using an Ubuntu machine with no drivers installed. Same exact settings for both pianos including the same cable. (Piano connected to my laptop, input detected by Pianoteq and output to my headphones)

I own a Roland FP-10, it has the same keyboard as the FP-30X. I'm running Pianoteq on an old Laptop (Intel i5-6300U / 4GB) with debian (no drivers too) via a Scarlett Solo 4th-Gen using ALSA direct.
When Pianoteq runs at 48kHz with 64ms buffer, i get a measured / real latency of roundabout 5ms while PTQ shows a calculated latency of 1.3ms. So i guess your FP-30X is most unlikely to be the reason for the issue.

While setting up, i had the experience, that the use of Pulseaudio added alot of latency.

Hope that helps a little.

Regards, Sebastian

Reply by Carpet4

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Key Fumbler wrote:
Carpet4 wrote:
Coises wrote:

Is this Windows? Is it possible that your computer has drivers that were installed for the px150 that could still be present and interfering with the FP-30X?

That’s just a wild guess. There shouldn’t be perceptible latency from any MIDI input unless something is wrong. Though I haven’t used that device, I’m certain that’s not expected operation for the Roland FP-30X.

I presume you are using the same audio interface and audio output you used with the Casio? If for some reason you’re trying to use the audio-over-USB capability of the FP-30X to play over its speakers, that, and not the MIDI input, is almost certainly the source of the latency. In any case, if this is Windows, make sure your audio output from Pianoteq didn’t change from ASIO to something else.

I am using an Ubuntu machine with no drivers installed. Same exact settings for both pianos including the same cable. (Piano connected to my laptop, input detected by Pianoteq and output to my headphones)

What are the audio settings you have setin your operating system, Operating system and DAW?
What is the latency?
What size of buffer?
What sample rate?

Other considerations:
How close to your ears are the loudspeaker monitors?
How do you feel about the latency if you use headphones?

I don't know what the actual latency is or how to measure it.
I am using standaone Pianoteq with a sample rate of 44100 and a buffer of 64, works like a charm with the casio but not with the roland...

Reply by budo

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

try running this script

https://codeberg.org/rtcqs/rtcqs

it's really helpful for identifying issues that can hurt audio performance.  i don't have any latency issues at all thanks to this (actually thanks to an earlier perl version that inspired this python script,  namely the one mentioned in the docs).

@youtube
@facebook

Reply by revox

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

I have FP-30X, and it works great. FP-30X has an audio interface, and if you're using it for the audio output from Pianoteq, you'll have noticeable latency.

My config:
https://i.imgur.com/hWzBtD8.png

Last edited by revox (12-11-2024 17:03)

Reply by Carpet4

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Re: Advice for a new piano/latency issues

Thanks everyone for the advices, I will try your ideas the next time I get access to an FP30X and update if anything worked